Kumeri is leading a project called “inclusive bioethics: modifying methodology to transform research“.
Research project
We are honoured to receive this year’s EACME Paul Schotsmans prize for the research project Inclusive bioethics: modifying methodology to transform research. This project, which is grounded in the UK research context, maps out the kinds of discrimination and bias inherent in mainstream research methods, and call for critical engagement with and rethinking of these methods. In doing so, we also explore what makes for exclusionary and inclusionary research methods. The project has three components: a literature review, an autoethnography, and a Delphi study. The conference paper abstract for which we won the Paul Schotsmans prize is on the autoethnography component, and the prize money will be used to organise and conduct the Delphi study next year. The project is based on our experiences as researchers from minoritised backgrounds; reflections on planning, developing, and executing empirical research projects as part of our respective PhDs; and involvement in other research projects. As such, we draw from a collective data set of 100 interviews we carried out in the UK in 2022 and 2023 for our PhDs, corollary research experiences, and associated methods. We outline the structural and individual biases inherent in developing research questions, recruiting participants, selecting consent processes, advertising projects, interviewing, and coding data, among other methodological steps. We contextualise our discussion within existing critiques that appear in decolonial and feminist literature to show how the unconsidered use of methods in bioethics research can exclude and undermine minoritised and underprivileged communities’ experiences and voices. We also show how such exclusion deprives bioethics research of data that is truly representative of the diverse communities around us. In reviewing literature, we consolidate related ideas scattered across existing work on the topic. Finally, we emphasise the need for more focused research on discrimination and biases in mainstream research methods and discuss what researchers can do to overcome these issues in planning, developing, and implementing their projects.
We will soon be advertising for a research associate to join our team.
Video series
The video series is complementary to the research project outlined above. The aim of this initiative is to provide postgraduates and early career researchers with tools to develop and implement bioethics research projects with inclusive design principles that include the diverse demographics and lived experiences of marginalised groups, and relevant and appropriate theories and concepts.
The project will do so by providing free resources and training on inclusive research methodology and methods (with expertise contributed by experienced researchers working with different marginalised communities across the globe) and by creating spaces for mutual learning and collaborating. We are in the process of seeking funding for and contacting contributors to a series of 30-minute videos. These will help postgraduates and early career researchers looking to question canonical bioethics research methods and learn more context-appropriate methods that they could use in developing and implementing their own research projects in inclusive ways.
We are excited to have a great range of speakers on board already, so watch this space for further information in the coming months.